RachelG
Aquarium Advice Activist
The night I brought this platy home a few days ago, she sprouted some white fuzzy growth on the sides of her mouth. I treated with pimafix and melafix starting yesterday, and it doesn't look any worse today at least. I also used a fan pointed at the tank, and the temperature has dropped from the awful 85f+ to a comfortable 78f. But now I come home from work and she has ICK all over her tail and dorsal fin. I've seen some white spots on some of my fish before, and i was never sure if it was ick or not...But those always faded after a day or two, and this case is definitely, undoubtedly, and surely a case of full-blown ick. And it looks like the dorsal fin is missing a chunk off of it. It doesn't look like it's torn, red, or black. It's just a rounded missing part. Could this be the beginning of fin rot? She is still breathing hard and flashing on the anubias and driftwood occasionally. If she would stay still I could get a decent picture, but she never stops moving. That's a good sign at least, right?
It's a ten gallon tank, and ammonia, etc. readings are good, has lots of live plants, three cherry shrimp, and two female platy. The other platy looks fine, but has one spot on her tail that may be an ick. How can i go about treating this tank? Any ick medications that won't harm shrimp, plants, bio filter, etc? Would Kordon Ich Attack do the job? I know for sure that one is available at local stores. How about aquarium salt?
Should I remove the cherry shrimp? I have a big plastic water jug and a little top fin filter that I could move the shrimp to, and I could use filter media and maybe some gravel and a plant from the endler tank that is not infected...would that do for a makeshift cycled temporary tank? Or could I just move them to my endler tank and see if they get along with the ghost shrimp? Will shrimp carry the fish diseases and parasites over?
Could I possibly do something akin to a salt-bath for my live plants or shrimp, to make sure no ick parasites are transferred anywhere?
What's ironic is I hear people saying not to buy fish from petsmart, get them from a lfs instead. All the fish I bought from petsmart have been completely healthy since arrival, even if they aren't impressive-looking specimens. In fact, my endlers from petsmart have brightened up in color considerably and are thriving in their tank. Now I buy this blue platy from a fish store that is supposed to be good, she comes down with all kind of illnesses.
I also just paid rent, and I'm almost completely broke. I only have twenty dollars until my next paycheck, and this fish problem is the last thing I need. I'm really frustrated, worried, and about to have a panic attack or something. I'm starting to think I should just put the fish down and quit on this tank. At least I'd still have my endler and betta tanks. But i don't want to shut this tank down after working so hard to put it together.
Here's a mini question not related to anything above: In my endler tank, I usually remove the dead little bits of anacharis that fall off the plant. I see a chunk that is soft and rotting, but my ghost shrimp appear to be pulling off chunks and munching on them. So, should I just leave bits of rotting plant matter for them to much on?
It's a ten gallon tank, and ammonia, etc. readings are good, has lots of live plants, three cherry shrimp, and two female platy. The other platy looks fine, but has one spot on her tail that may be an ick. How can i go about treating this tank? Any ick medications that won't harm shrimp, plants, bio filter, etc? Would Kordon Ich Attack do the job? I know for sure that one is available at local stores. How about aquarium salt?
Should I remove the cherry shrimp? I have a big plastic water jug and a little top fin filter that I could move the shrimp to, and I could use filter media and maybe some gravel and a plant from the endler tank that is not infected...would that do for a makeshift cycled temporary tank? Or could I just move them to my endler tank and see if they get along with the ghost shrimp? Will shrimp carry the fish diseases and parasites over?
Could I possibly do something akin to a salt-bath for my live plants or shrimp, to make sure no ick parasites are transferred anywhere?
What's ironic is I hear people saying not to buy fish from petsmart, get them from a lfs instead. All the fish I bought from petsmart have been completely healthy since arrival, even if they aren't impressive-looking specimens. In fact, my endlers from petsmart have brightened up in color considerably and are thriving in their tank. Now I buy this blue platy from a fish store that is supposed to be good, she comes down with all kind of illnesses.
I also just paid rent, and I'm almost completely broke. I only have twenty dollars until my next paycheck, and this fish problem is the last thing I need. I'm really frustrated, worried, and about to have a panic attack or something. I'm starting to think I should just put the fish down and quit on this tank. At least I'd still have my endler and betta tanks. But i don't want to shut this tank down after working so hard to put it together.
Here's a mini question not related to anything above: In my endler tank, I usually remove the dead little bits of anacharis that fall off the plant. I see a chunk that is soft and rotting, but my ghost shrimp appear to be pulling off chunks and munching on them. So, should I just leave bits of rotting plant matter for them to much on?
